Location

Nestling almost secretly in gently undulating countryside, the tiny hamlet of Tunworth is an ancient settlement with origins dating back to Norman times. Little evidence now remains apart from the pretty 12th century church of All Saints and a number of other period homes and farms. Old Rectory and the village of Tunworth are surrounded by the Herriard Estate.

Whilst uniquely private, the situation is however, remarkably convenient being just 4 miles from the M3 that provides quick and efficient access to London, the south coast ports and airports. In addition, the mainline station in Basingstoke offers a good service into London with journey times from as little as 46 minutes. Street Croft Farm and Coffee Shop on the Herriard Estate is a delightful place to buy local produce. Just over a mile away the village of Upton Grey has a convenience store for daily needs and is home to the Hoddington Arms pub.

The towns of Odiham, Basingstoke, Alresford, Stockbridge and Winchester provide between them the whole range of high street shopping and other leisure amenities. The private members club, Barnsgrove in Greywell is also just 4 miles from the property.

There is a good choice of well renowned schools in the area including; Lord Wandsworth College (6 miles), Sherfield School (8 miles), Wellesley Prep School - formerly Daneshill (11 miles), Cheam (16 miles), Wellington College (17 miles), Horris Hill (20 miles), Bedales (21 miles), St Swithuns (22 miles) and Winchester College (24 miles).

Description

Old Rectory is an impressive and exceptionally well presented, grade II listed house, positioned beautifully within its grounds. The generous ancillary accommodation, extensive garaging and leisure facilities compliment the house and setting, making this the ideal compact estate.

The property is characterised by light-filled rooms and entertaining spaces that interconnect, making it inherently practical for family life. The interior design style throughout is understated and elegant. Over the current owners' period of ownership, the property has undergone some significant upgrades. The kitchen, dining and sitting room, which offers wonderful open plan living space at the heart of the house, has been renovated. This project encompassed the removal, restoration and redecoration of the kitchen cabinetry, a new marble floor, replacement countertops, upgraded Quooker with boiling tap, cold tap and sparkling water, and a full re-paint of the room. Importantly, a new ventilation and heat recovery system has also been installed. This ensures excellent air quality in the most used space in the house, as well as enhancing the energy efficiency of the home. The useful cold storeroom, accessed from the kitchen, has been re-plastered and repainted. The HVAC unit has been replaced and re-plumbed and the owners have added an air filtration unit.

Adjacent to the reception hall and drawing room is a magnificent study, with dual aspect and lovely views of the gardens. In this room, the current owners have replaced the panelling, added inlayed mirrors, added new lighting, replaced the carpets, covered the radiators and re-decorated.

The cellar is another area that has received recent attention, including the removal of asbestos and installation of an extractor system, which coupled with the new ventilation system helps to ensure a fully dry basement year-round.

The indoor pool has had a new biological filtration system installed this year. This removes the need for chemicals and creates the effect of a natural swimming pool inside. The system can be controlled remotely and is designed to enhance the energy efficiency of the pool as well. Above the pool, a skylight is being replaced with a new roof structure, creating a better environment for swimming inside and allowing for better views from the guest suites.

Throughout the house now benefits from Ethernet hardwire, offering better speed, greater security and stability than reliance on Wi-Fi. The house is zoned so that Wi-Fi can be turned on or off in certain rooms at any time.

The following planning consents have been obtained via ADAM Architecture:

1.Conversion of the existing garage of Little Barn to an additional bedroom, incorporating a new external window and a new internal door to connect this room to the rest of the dwelling. Ref:23/01949/HSE

2.Alterations to the main house. These include replacing the skylights in the swimming pool and conservatory as well as the creation of a new openings in the walls of the principal bedroom and dressing room to create a new access into the principal bathroom. Ref: 23/01938/HSE and 23/01939 LBC

3.Engineering operation to create a new outdoor swimming pond. Ref: 23/02417/HSE

The grounds at Old Rectory are magical with more formal, structured parts closest to the house and wilder bucolic parkland and fields beyond. Over the past two years, the entire property has been converted to organic practices, Savills have been informed that no chemicals have been used on the gardens in the past 2 years. Remedial works to established hedges and trees have been carried out and the beds have been re-designed and re-planted. The pond at the front of the property has been re-lined. For those keen on growing vegetables and rearing chickens, the vegetable patch has been expanded and the chicken coop has been re-built, to include enhanced fencing to guard against predators. A new treehouse and children's adventure course, made from natural and re-cycled materials, has been built in the grounds to the west of the house.

There are two farm business tenancy agreements in place on the fields. This land is used for grazing cattle and sheep and for making hay. For further information please ask the agent.

From the property there is easy access to a network of bridleways and footpaths across the surrounding countryside.

Directions

From London, follow M3 south towards Winchester. At Junction 5 leave motorway and at the roundabout take third exit onto A287 and continue for 0.7 mile. At T junction turn left onto A30 and follow for 3 miles then at crossroads turn left onto Huish Lane. Continue for 1.2 miles. Then turn left into Tunworth Road. After 0.6 mile turn right into Longroden Lane for a further 0.5 mile. Turn left to remain on Longroden Lane and the entrance to The Old Rectory will be found after a short distance on the right- hand side. Take the first pair of gates which will open automatically and lead to the house and turning area.
(For users of the What3Words app the reference is verges.ruling.lifters. Sat-nav will locate the post-code but may follow some very narrow lanes for drivers coming from east)